Kuronue and Kurama
by Robina Snyder
Summary: Kuronue wants to apologize, more than anything he wants to apologize, but Kurama doesn't trust that the Kuronue standing in front of him is the real thing, especially after the last time. 3 stories in the life of Kurama and Kuronue after they meet again.
1. Chapter 1

He slept so peacefully, on his side in the moonlight. Was that really him? No, it had to be or else he wouldn't be there. He'd waited a long time for that… but was that really him? He knew Kurama had changed, heard he was different, but this was so different.

But it had to be him, didn't it? Who else could it be? He knew the feel of Kurama's plants. They just moved different. He knew that the ones near the window moved instantly when he came in, but relaxed when they touched him. Their master didn't even wake up. Of course they wouldn't, they hadn't when he'd worked with Kurama. They still recognized him, he still recognized him.

For a man who was so paranoid and who woke so easily that Kurama had always stayed asleep when he entered had always been gratifying. It was how he now knew that this was Kurama, and not some imposter. No person who had demon or spirit energy would have let a stranger into their rooms, at least not ones who had their plants set to identify anyone who entered.

Of course it was him, had to be, but he looked so different. Gone were the white hair and the white skin. Gone were the tail and those hilariously twitchy ears. And the eyes, those terrifying gold eyes would be gone too, wouldn't they. He wondered what color Kurama's eyes were now. This Kurama was so different, so human. Still beautiful, still the same fox (he hoped), still probably cocky and annoying and powerful. But it wasn't his Kurama, his friend, his companion, his partner.

This should have been a stranger, the human body and the tanner skin and the red hair and that innocent peaceful expression. Kurama shouldn't look that innocent, he wasn't. He was cold and cruel, and brilliant, and hilarious for all that he was pompous and jaded. But innocent, no he wasn't innocent. But this was Kurama now wasn't it? This wasn't just a human shell, this was Kurama.

He leaned down, his black hair falling around his face as he looked at his old friend. "I am sorry," he said softly.

Then Kurama shifted and he bolted.

* * *

"Dammit Hiei," Kurama muttered, yawning as he woke up. Hiei visited occasional, very occasionally, really very rarely, but it happened. That was the only way Kurama knew how to explain his always unlocked window being open, especially when his plants hadn't reacted and he hadn't woken up at all. But really, did Hiei have to come in and not even say hello, just wake him up and leave. That was hardly polite.

He yawned and got up, going and closing the window, locking it for once just because he was annoyed. As a general rule it was not a good idea to wake Kurama up unnecessarily, especially not when he had a test in the morning.

* * *

He stayed perfectly still against the wall until he heard the door shut and the lock click. Even then he didn't move for a while, and then he kicked off. He flew up, trying to get high enough that people wouldn't notice him, or would assume he was a human flying contraption.

He was angry, of course he was. Who the hell was 'Hiei'. Kurama had replaced him with another partner, hadn't he?

Well of course he had, it wasn't like he hadn't been gone for hundreds of years. Kurama would have found someone else to work with. No matter what the stupid fox said he really didn't like being alone for anything.

But he still felt angry. You go to hell and back and you hope that the person who mattered most in your life wouldn't forget you, no matter that you betrayed them first.

Goddammit!

He flew higher and faster to escape the ugly thoughts circling his mind.

* * *

Kurama had the strangest feeling the next morning, and the next day, one he couldn't shake. It was a familiar feeling, like someone he knew was nearby, but he couldn't identify it. There were few demons that could get close to him without setting off his alarms, mainly Hiei, Yusuke, and Yukina. The rest he never really let his guard down around. He wasn't even that close to Yukina, simply the knowledge that she didn't even want to hurt people who hurt her, combined with knowing that Hiei would try to set him on fire if he ever did hurt her made Kurama keep his guard lowered around her.

Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara were his allies, people he relied on, who knew many of his secrets (though not all, never all). They were powerful, yes, but they wouldn't betray him, and they wouldn't cause him harm. Only with people who he trusted would he sleep through them entering his room, and only Hiei came in through the window, so he'd been so sure it was Hiei.

But it wasn't. Hiei didn't run in and leave. If he came it was either to escape Makai for a while before going back to Mukuro, and Hiei would definitely speak to him if that was the case, or he came to borrow something, which Hiei probably wouldn't be able to find without talking to him. All evidence pointed toward Hiei, and all evidence pointed to someone else.

And still he felt that flash of familiarity over the next week, someone he knew and was comfortable with was nearby, but it wasn't Kuwabara (couldn't be when he saw him around campus), and it wasn't Yusuke or Hiei who were pretty distinctive in their scents. What worried him was that he should have felt on edge, because something was wrong with his normal status quo, and someone who wasn't revealing themselves was nearby. What worried him the most was that he didn't feel worried at all.

* * *

Somehow you can wait a thousand years to see someone with all the patience bestowed upon a thousand monks and yet a week seems too damn long. It wasn't that he hadn't seen Kurama, he'd seen a lot of him, but there wasn't really any communication at all.

He just couldn't get it. When did Kurama's friends become so tacky… actually when did Kurama have friends; aside for him, that is. That annoying human with the orange hair had even called him Kurama, though most called him Shuichi, a human name. But the orange haired human had known who Kurama was, what he was, and yet he was human. Human and loud and ugly and tacky and what was Kurama thinking?

He didn't get it, couldn't understand it. Kurama didn't steal anything. He didn't seem to be planning anything. He went to classes, he studied, he acted just… human. If it has been anyone else he wouldn't have stayed around, but it was Kurama and he couldn't go before he'd apologized to Kurama's face. That was most important. In fact that was all that mattered.

A week passed, he was only able to wait that long before he came back to Kurama's building, and came to Kurama's window, entering and waiting for the plants to stop touching him so he could go in further without waking their master. Really this was a stupid idea. Waking Kurama up like this could get him killed, or at least seriously hurt. If anything the way he crept around suggested that he didn't want Kurama to wake up. If Kurama wasn't awake than he couldn't speak to him.

Maybe it would have made more sense to approach him during the waking hours, but he'd never been able to get up the nerve to do it. Whenever he'd resolved to his fear of his once-friend finding out the truth would stop him, or a self conscious feeling that maybe this human wasn't really Kurama even given so much evidence to the contrary. The only thing that kept him close was that very certain guilt. He hadn't died before, and frankly he wasn't sure how strong Kurama still was, but he wasn't sure that he could fight back. Not with how much the guilt consumed his strength. No, he wouldn't be able to fight back.

When the plants finished their check he silently moved to the bed, watching the gentle movement of the red head's chest. This was Kurama, Kurama who hated being woken up. No, he couldn't wake him up and he couldn't be the first thing Kurama saw either, that would be too shocking. It would be better to leave now before waking him. And yet it seemed just a waste to have snuck in and to do nothing.

Once more he found himself leaned over the human vessel, looking down Kurama, and it had to be Kurama. Who else could it be? "I am sorry," he said softly, just watching the face. This was practice, just practice for when he finally would tell him. A face to face practice. And maybe this time he'd really get up the nerve to say it Kurama, to confront him. Yes, maybe this would work.

He took another look at that beautiful face. Of course the stupid fox would find a beautiful vessel. He was too vain not too. Show off, finding someone with such rare red hair, such irritatingly perfect skin, such long lashes, such startlingly green eyes.

It took him a moment too long to register what seeing those green eyes meant, but it was too late by then anyway, even as he jumped back he felt constricting vines wrap around him. Kurama sat up, looking cold angry, that deep anger that he'd only experienced twice in his life before now and was not happy to see a third time. This cold was reserved for Kurama's greatest anger, and most people didn't survive it. He knew didn't he? He knew already. He was going to die, and his old friend was going to kill him.

* * *

Kurama was angry, beyond simply angry. He was furious, livid, and worse than that he was cold. It had nearly ripped him apart to see his old friend before, or at least to see someone masquerading as him. But another this time? Kuronue was dead and gone and probably rotten past bone already. The body's break down didn't survive so many hundreds of years. It angered him to see another use Kuronue's image, especially to try and get to him. How dare they?

He had gone to bed with the idea of catching the stranger, or at least waiting up a little longer to see if the stalker would come, as he had for the past three nights. Awake he had more control over his plants, and even though the scent seemed familiar he had considered attack. Yet for a moment he had stayed his hand, curious as to who exactly had entered his domain.

It had taken the imposter a lot longer than he'd expected. At the time he hadn't known what to expect, accept to keep his plants at the ready just in case. He hadn't even known the person was an imposter until they'd spoken. He wondered if this was supposed to be a normal (though highly skilled) assassin, or if Yomi was trying to find a new way to test and bother him.

His vines snaked around the imposter, binding well his legs, arms, and wings. He had to hand it to the imposter; the look of distress on his face when the wings were bound at least seemed genuine. Demons who naturally had wings hated having them bound and were known to have panic attacks under the right conditions. This assassin knew at least a little something about those with wings, but that wouldn't save him. Kurama's vines had already wrapped around his throat and mouth, squeezing on the throat especially hard. This was a threat, and he wasn't stupid enough to allow the imposter time to think of a lie.

"I can't tell if you're either very good or very stupid," he said, watching the imposter panic and try to twist out of his vine as he sat leisurely on his bed. "You're obviously good enough to trick my senses, but not smart enough to kill me when you had the chance," he said. "So why don't you tell me who you're working for and we'll make this a lot easier."

* * *

Damn, damn, damn, his wings were bound. Of course Kurama would know that would make him panic: he'd used it against him before the second time he got cold angry at him. After all he'd been through he almost thought that he wouldn't still have these attacks, but he did. Damn, damn, damn.

"I can't tell if you're either very good or very stupid," Kurama said, leaning back in his bed and speaking with perfectly miffed nonchalants. If he had any doubts about this being Kurama before he had none now. "You're obviously good enough to trick my senses, but not smart enough to kill me when you had the chance," he said. Shit, he knew. Kurama knew what he'd done, and now he was going to make him pay for it. At this rate he wasn't even going to get a chance to explain. "So why don't you tell me who you're working for and we'll make this a lot easier." What?

He felt the vines loosen around his mouth. "I don't know what you mean," he said and suddenly felt the vines tighten around his throat.

"Wrong answer," Kurama said. Shit, shit, shit. This was an interrogation. He couldn't just play stupid. He needed to pretend like he knew something long enough to get the vines loosened or he was going to die. "Try again."

"I wasn't sent by anyone, I came on my own," he said quickly.

"A personal grudge then," Kurama said, watching him with those hard green eyes. Somehow the demonic coldness in something that should have been human was far more terrifying than Kurama's golden eyes.

"No," he said.

"Then someone must have sent you," Kurama insisted. The vine around his neck tightened, just a threat. If he made it out of this alive his windpipe was going to be half crushed.

"No," he said quickly. Why was Kurama doing this? Asking these questions when he had to know.

"You can't have it both ways," Kurama said. Kurama was going to kill him if he couldn't get his act together. This was an interrogation, and he knew how to handle such things, he just had to not be stupid. He could think about the why of the situation later.

"I'm not," he said quickly. "I didn't come to kill you, I came to speak with you," he said. He thought that might have made Kurama relax, but instead he only seemed all the more tense.

"You came to talk to me while posing as an old friend. That's not a good way to speak to me," Kurama said, the ice in his voice increasing in volume. This was rapidly becoming worse. How could Kurama think he was an imposter?

"I'm not an imposter," he said and the vine tightened around his throat until he wouldn't have been able to speak if he wanted to, or breathe for that matter.

"Wrong answer," Kurama said, and leaned back against the headboard of his bed. "I'll give you one more chance not to lie to me. Tell me who you are."

The vine loosened and suddenly he could speak. "I'm Kuronue," he said. His name felt rusty on his own tongue. Had it been that long since he'd actually said it? The vine tightened around his throat again but he expected it to. What he didn't expect was that angelic smile. This new Kurama was scarier.

"Alright then, tell what happened the night we were separated?" the vine loosened and Kuronue took a huge breath, desperately needing the air. "I'm waiting."

"We were stealing a mirror, one that was supposed to have a god trapped in it," he said, saying quickly what he remembered, though really he remembered everything. He'd relived it so many times he couldn't not remember every little detail, but he didn't have time for every little detail now. "The guard chased us, and the chain broke on my pendant. You'd been warning me to get it fixed for ages but I didn't listen. You told me not to, but I went back for it anyway. I got caught." He wasn't going into the details of being captured, not now.

"Do you still have the pendant? The one that was so important you have to go back for it?" Kurama asked in a mocking tone that surprised Kuronue. He had to go back; he thought for sure Kurama would have understood.

"Yes, of course," he said. Kurama was suddenly very close to him. Maybe someone else, someone less intelligent would have found Kurama's look sexy, but Kuronue just found it terrifying.

"Alright then, give it to me and I'll let you live," Kurama said.

Kuronue looked at him dumbfounded. Who was this? This wasn't Kurama, this wasn't his friend, his partner. Who was this cold and cruel human who had replaced him? Kurama would have known, would have known why he couldn't live without that pendant, why it was so important that he threw his life away for it, why he had to have it.

"Well?" Kurama asked.

"I-i can't," Kuronue said. "You can kill me, but I just can't give it away. I'd die without it," he said.

"Why can't you give it to me?" Kurama asked.

Kuronue blushed. Really? Did they really have to go into this? "I just can't," he said, wishing he could look away from those green eyes. He felt the vines restrict on his whole body as a warning that if he angered Kurama too much what was happening to his neck would seem comfortable in comparison.

"Tell me," Kurama ordered. Kuronue felt himself blush deeper and he mumbled something he knew Kurama couldn't hear. "What was that?" Kurama asked, leaning in.

"It was my first gift," Kuronue said. He hung his eyes. This was too embarrassing. Kurama knew, why did he have to say it again?

"What?" Kurama asked, and Kuronue noted that this wasn't an interrogatory tone.

"It was my first gift; you gave it to me," Kuronue said. He hadn't just given it to him; he'd bought it for him. Okay it was damn useful, and it was shiny, which he liked, but that wasn't why he'd gone back for it. He wouldn't have been able to survive separated from it. How could he lose the first gift anyone ever gave him? Especially when it was his partner who gave it to him?

He expected the vines again, but this time rough fingers touched the bottom of his chin. Figures, stupid fox would do his own gardening. He felt the hand gently tilt his head up, and he found himself looking into those incredibly cold green eyes. They didn't look cold any more, if anything they actually looked a little scared. Kurama reached up with his other hand and moved Kuronue's hat slightly, making his ears twitch. Annoying bastard, did he always have to do that?

"It's a very good illusion," Kurama finally said and Kuronue near panicked.

"It's not a damn illusion, I'm not an illusion!" he snapped. Why wouldn't he believe it was him? It was unbelievable, but he'd gone and hid himself in a human body, why couldn't Kurama believe that his old partner was back.

"A protest in hopes that I'll let you go, but I'm not so stupid about assassins," Kurama said, back to the cold, but somehow it seemed even worse.

"Oh Inari!" Kuronue groaned, they'd been separated for a thousand years and somehow the fox's favorite expletive was still the first thing he reached for. "No, I would never, why would I? Why would I do that when I just came all this way to find you?"

* * *

"Because that's what assassins do," Kurama said. Okay, maybe not the smartest response ever, but this imposter was messing with him too badly. The last one had made a fatal flaw by throwing away the pendant, but this one knew too well. Kurama was just getting angrier, because it either meant that the demon was digging into his mind to get this information, or Kuronue had been alive and they'd gotten the information from him, although the ear twitching was such an odd thing to know about.

Either way it was sick, and he didn't know why he wasn't just killing the assassin. Well, he did know: it would be too hasty. This imposter was very good, and it would be a bad idea to simply let him go without figuring out how he did this. There was also the tiny little hope he had in the back of his heart that maybe this was the real Kuronue, but he knew that couldn't be true… although he did look a bit older than how Kurama remembered him… no it was just wishful thinking, or some kind of sick masochism. He didn't want the image of his dead friend to go away so soon.

"Tell me, just tell me what I can do to make you believe me," the imposter said.

"Nothing," Kurama responded. The imposter looked so crushed. He was good at his act, most demons wouldn't have thought to act like that.

"Then can I at least tell you why I came?" the imposter asked.

Well, it was probably some mind game, but it might help him figure out something about the imposter. "Ok."

The imposter went silent for a moment, and Kurama got the distinct impression that he was screwing up his courage. "Okay, alright, okay," the imposter said, seeming nervous. Whatever he had to say it would at least be interesting. "I am sorry," he said. "I came to apologize."

Kurama blinked, surprised. That wasn't at all like what he expected. "What would Kuronue have to apologize for?" He was the one who'd left his partner behind to die.

"Because Kuronue," the man started, licking his lips and looking even more afraid. Then he hung his head. "Because Kuronue betrayed his partner and that's the worst thing a partner can do."

"When did you betray me?" Kurama asked, being taken in by the act and he knew it.

Kuronue looked up, guilt evident on his face. "They tortured me Kurama, they kept going until I would have said anything to make them stop, and I did say anything. I knew you'd never tell them, but I told. I told that assassin where to find you twenty years ago. I told her everything."

Kurama's eyes widened for just a moment. Her. Most people assumed that it was a male demon who'd taken him down, but it was a woman, one who would probably like to kill him if she ever found him. He remembered relaxing in one of his dens, not expecting anyone until suddenly a female with a knife tried to kill him. He remembered having to flee, and heading to a new hideout, but she knew everyone didn't she? He wondered how she'd known, because eventually he only went to his oldest, the ones only Kuronue knew about. How did she know where he was?

He focused back on Kuronue in front of him, still unsure, still wary, but not for the same reasons as before. "You didn't come for revenge?"

"What?" Kuronue asked, completely startled. "Why would I ever?"

"I left you," Kurama said.

"You would have come back if I asked," Kuronue said. "But we both knew it was useless, and I told you to go on… and you still hesitated," he said. "That is more that anyone could ask from a partner." In the demon world. "And then I betrayed you. I would expect you'd want to kill me."

Kuronue.

* * *

He still wasn't sure if Kurama believed him, but the vines weren't choking him anymore, in fact, he didn't feel the one around his neck anymore. He looked down and winced, his throat hurting badly after the abuse it took. The vines were retreating off of him, and he had to shift his stance so he wouldn't fall over when the vines let his legs. His eyes shot up again, and he once more met those green eyes that were no longer cold. "Do you believe me?"

Kurama didn't answer, didn't have to when he suddenly grabbed Kuronue and pulled him into a hug. Kuronue thought that was very considerate of him: now Kuronue didn't have to think of a response either, he just wrapped his arms around his old friend and squeezed him, feeling the weakness of the human form, but just feeling grateful that Youko Kurama hadn't died, that he still existed.

He wasn't sure how long they stood there, holding onto each other like they each thought the other would disappear. Kurama's hand's stroked his wings, and Kuronue's hands found Kurama's ridiculously soft hair. He had to remember not to disturb the seeds too much, but rather imagined that Kurama's head felt like what petting a kit would. Kuronue knew they were both shaking.

It felt a little like one or both of them had just been spared an execution and they were clinging to their renewed life all over again, and in doing so they clung to each other, desperate for any comfort they could find. Finally Kuronue felt Kurama tugging him, and they both dropped down on the bed.

"I can't believe you're alive," Kurama said, rolling out of the hug and stretching out on the bed. He always recovered first, the bastard.

"I must say I'd rather wished I was dead many time," Kuronue said, feeling ashamed. "I was never as strong as you."

"No, and you still aren't," Kurama said matter-of-factly, but smiled over at him.

"Bastard," Kuronue snarled, but stretched out more on his side.

"Simply telling the truth," Kurama said. Damn, separated for a thousand years and they were still the same as ever, it made Kuronue grin. And then he frowned.

"What?" Kurama was staring at him.

"I hurt you," Kurama said, reaching out and touching the very red and very sore spot where his vine had attempted to strangle his friend.

"You thought I was an imposter," Kuronue pointed out. "Actually, I mean I know I've been gone for a long time, but have I changed that much?"

"No, it's because you were too perfect," Kurama said, getting up to dig something out of his closet.

"What does that mean?" Kuronue asked, sitting up.

"There was someone who posed as you once to try and kill me," Kurama said, coming back with a jar of some kind of salve. "He did a very good job, and he nearly did kill me," Kurama said.

"But he didn't," Kuronue said. What would he have done if he's seen 'Kurama' trying to kill him?

"No, but only because he made a mistake. He threw away his pendant," Kurama said, handing Kuronue the jar.

"I would never do that," Kuronue said quickly.

"No, if you really wanted revenge you would have thrown it away long before, but even then I can't imagine you'd get rid of it," Kurama said with a knowing smile. "You always did take too much stock in personal items," he added.

Kuronue nodded. Yes, Kurama knew him very well. "So, what are you doing? I mean you have to be planning a heist right?" he asked, excited.

"No, actually," Kurama said. He shook his head when he saw Kuronue's excited face fall. "You may not have changed, but I am. I'm human now. I have a family and a job… or at least I will again when I finish this semester of business classes," he said. It wasn't his fault that his stepfather insisted he needed some finance classes before his stepson could work for him again.

Kuronue looked unhappy. "You have forgotten me," he pouted.

"Don't be stupid," Kurama said. "And that salve works better on your skin than in the jar," he added.

Kuronue grumbled and twisted the lid off, taking a bit of the cream on his fingers and carefully starting to rub it into the wound on his neck. "You have a new partner, that Hiei person."

Kurama nearly laughed. "I'd hardly call Hiei a partner. He spends most of his time in Makai working for his new lover," he said with a smile. Well, he didn't think Mukuro and Hiei were new lovers anymore, but as he understood it Hiei was still as awkward about it as when they started.

"You trust him enough that you thought I was him," Kuronue pointed out, actually jealous that other people were now as trusted as he had been.

"Yes, because he's the only one who comes through the window to see me," Kurama said. "Kuronue… I'm not the same as I was before. I have friends now, not just you. I technically still work for the spirit detectives," he said, seeing Kuronue wince.

"How did that happen?" Kuronue exclaimed.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Kurama said. "It's a very long story. But the point is that I do have other friends, friends that know about me," He said. "Not as much as you know," he added quickly, seeing his old friend's expression. "Kuronue, you're still my best friend, even gone away for a thousand years. Believe it or not, I can fill you in on what you missed," Kurama said.

Kuronue nodded. "You still want me?"

"You're kidding me right, I've been mourning you for a thousand years," Kurama said earnestly. He'd lost his closest friend that day, and the guilt stayed with him for so long.

"Even after I betrayed you?" Kuronue asked, and Kurama imagined that if Kuronue had fox ears they would have been drooping and he had to fight down a smile. Somethings were better left unexplained.

"Kuronue… I am happier here as a human than I have ever been in my entire life. I have a mother who loves me, and friends, and something wonderfully mundane. Really, I should be thanking you for telling her," Kurama said. "And after all, you wouldn't have survived if you hadn't told her, am I correct?" he asked, watching Kuronue nod.

"Are you-" Kuronue started, and Kurama held up a hand to stop him from speaking.

"All I need now is to have my best friend back and I will have the best life," Kurama said and smiled a little, watching his old friend grin. "Now, stop moping," he add, watching his friend scowl.

"You're still a bastard," Kuronue said.

"Guilty," Kurama said, stretching out on his bed. He was still exhausted. His human body had a lot more limitations than his demon one. "Now, I have class tomorrow, and I'm going to bed," Kurama said, pulling the blankets up around him and rolling over on his side. "Take your shoes off if you're going to stay," he added.

Kuronue grinned, pulling off his shoes and climbing under the blankets. "You still hog the covers," he said, smiling through Kurama couldn't see it.

"And you still talk too much. Shut up and sleep," Kurama said. He wouldn't use such gruff language around Hiei or the others, but then Kuronue knew him before the change, and Kurama wasn't always so nice. Besides, having Kuronue back was like getting his brother back. They knew each other too well to be anything by painfully blunt.

"G'night Kurama," Kuronue said, and lay still, waiting until he heard his friend's breathing change. Then he closed his own eyes. Everything hurt from being squeezed by those plants, but his neck hurt worst. He'd nearly been murdered by his best friend. He'd betrayed his best friend. And yet he was there, back with the only man he could consider a friend and a brother, and he was happy. It seemed after he'd been punished for his crimes he was finally being rewarded for whatever good he'd lived before. Life was just funny like that he supposed as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: What do you think? This was written for brm6 on DA, cause she draws pretty things. Of course I'm not a big fan of shonen-ai or BL, so my Kuronue/Kurama is a lot most Shakespearian/Biblical friendship based.

Also, if you actually know me you'll know I got one of my own characters in this anyway, the assassin. Let's just say that her meeting Kurama ends very badly for him.

Thanks for reading!

Also, yes, I go suppose Mukuro/Hiei.


	2. Chapter 2

Kuronue was spending the day with Kuwabara, and he was sure he was in hell. Damn Kurama.

"_I just don't see why you hang out with him," Kuronue said, lounging on Kurama's bed. _

"_He's my friend," Kurama said, giving Kuronue and annoyed look. "Shoes off the bed."_

_Kuronue grumbled and pulled his shoes off, dropping them on the floor. "But still, I mean he's just so tacky, and he clashed with you horribly."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Kurama asked, getting that look in his eyes that had made lesser men piss their pants and made Kuronue know that he was going to regret this._

"_Well, he's just so orange, and you're so pink. Those colors clash terribly," Kuronue said, which earned him a different look, one that said 'and they accuse me of being girly?' "The picture just doesn't work at all."_

_Kurama sat in silence for a few moments, thinking. "Well, that maybe be true, but you know that black and orange go together really well."_

Kuronue was later informed the appropriate response would have been that orange and black went together only if you celebrated Halloween, this of course came after someone explained what Halloween was to him. But it still didn't matter much at that point; the 'play date' had been set. It didn't matter what excuse her gave.

"_Kurama, I can't go to an amusement park," Kuronue said, trying to stall for time while he thought of a reason._

"_And why not?" Kurama asked surprisingly quickly._

"_I um… I get motion sick too easily," he said, thinking of those roller coaster things. Though in all honesty they seemed kind of awesome._

"_Kuronue, you're a bird. The function of your race is that you fly very fast and like to show off. I remember you doing cartwheels in the air. After you grabbed me off the ground and dragged me into the air with you." Yeah, that had been a fantastic joke at the time. He just hadn't expected it to bit him in the ass twelve hundred years later._

"_Well, yeah, so what about my wings?" Kuronue asked. "I can't really hide them." The only time he'd be able to go outside was to that 'anime convention'. Mostly people congratulated him on his amazing costume and wanted to take pictures of him (or with him). _

"_Already taken care of," Kurama said, with a speed that humans simply shouldn't have he looped a chair around Kuronue's neck. Kuronue glanced down, seeing the little ornament on the chain, shaped like a pair of wings. _

"_What is this supposed to do?" Kuronue asked until Kurama steered him in front of a mirror. "Holy shit!" Kuronue shouted. His wings were gone. "What'd you do to my wings, bring them back," he said, rounding on Kurama and grabbing his collar, in a state of near panic. _

"_You're wrinkling my shirt" Kurama said calmly._

"_You stole my wings!"_

_Kurama silenced him with a cold look. "I didn't steal anything. It's a charm on then necklace. When you take it off your wings will show up again." _

Really, the wing argument should have worked. In one way the necklace was useful. He finally wasn't stuck hiding in shadows or in Kurama's apartment. When their got him 'human' clothes he was even able to blend in fairly well. The problem was that he was now stuck with the orange monstrosity.

Kuwabara, if he were a demon, should have been an ascended grunt, one of the bull demons, or the deformed minions with green skin and orange hair that followed orders and got killed by people like him and Kurama. Except that he was able to get some power so he'd show up in a tournament and wouldn't die (somehow), but his purpose in life would still be to get killed by people in him or Kurama. That was what the goal should have been for the Kuwabaras of the demon world.

Too bad the Kuwabara of the human world was more powerful than even most demons (A and S class not withstanding). It was also too bad that this Kuwabara was one of Kurama's closest friends, or Kuronue could kill him, sweep his remains under a rug, and tell Kurama that he lost him somewhere. Damn!

The worst part was that (no matter what Kurama said about Kuwabara having a girlfriend) Kuronue was sure that Kuwabara was both gay and checking him out. Kuwabara just kept looking at him, which was disgusting, especially considering how ugly Kuwabara was. Besides that Kuwabara about had an orgasm when he saw the park's mascot, a giant cat thing, an insisted on getting a picture with it. He also bought a cat-mascot key chain and won a giant-cat-mascot at some game, hugging onto it as they walked along.

Had Kurama set him up on a date? Was this some kind of punishment? Or had he simply died and was now in hell? A hell where he was on a date with a hideous orange monster who liked cats (bird, by the way, hate cats) and who kept trying to get him eat things too disgusting for Kuronue to digest them… things like _hot dogs_ and _Cotton Candy_.

He would have been sure that he was in hell, except for the fact that they went on the roller coasters. And Damn! Those were as close as a human would get to experience personal aerial tricks, and some of them went at a speed that even he couldn't reach in the air. It only got better that Kuwabara did not stomach the roller coasters well and after the fifth one had to wait on the ground.

Finally Kuwabara talked him onto the Ferris wheel, one big enough that they'd literally be trapped in their little capsule for an hour before they could get out. Kuronue felt more and more uncomfortable as they sat in silence. He could tell the orange monster was trying to tell him something, he only hoped it wasn't a confession of some form.

"You know," Kuwabara started. Damn, here is came: confession time. "You could talk or something?"

"What?" Kuronue asked, not getting it at all.

"That, right there, is the only thing you've said all day," Kuwabara said, seeming annoyed.

"So?" Kuronue asked, realizing that the moron was, in fact, correct, but what did it matter?

"Christ, I only brought you here as a favor to Kurama. I didn't think it would be this bad," Kuwabara snapped.

"What?" Kuronue asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Kurama said you wanted to go on the rollercoasters, but you're not supposed to go places on your own, and Kurama's busy doing stuff for his dad so he asked me," Kuwabara explained.

"What do you mean I'm not supposed to go places on my own?" Kuronue asked.

"It was part of the deal Kurama made with Koenma. Kurama's on our team because he stole something, and I guess you could say being a spirit detective was like community service," Kuwabara said. "But done a lot of things, and Koenma can't be sure that you can be trusted, so someone has to be with you all the time."

"I didn't know that," Kuronue said with a frown. "Why didn't Kurama tell me?"

Kuwabara looked uncomfortable and shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe he didn't want to make you feel trapped or something. He said that birds don't like feeling caged," Kuwabara said.

Kuronue could feel himself getting a little angry. "So, he's talking about me behind my back now?" he hissed.

It was Kuwabara's turn to cock his head to one side, though this time it was because he was trying to think of a reason for this so Kurama wouldn't get in trouble. "Well, eh, I don't think it's talking behind your back if he's only saying good things… is it?" Kuwabara added quickly.

Kuronue looked soothed, but still unhappy. "What else does he say about me?"

"I don't know, I tune out most of it. From what I actually heard though he's mostly just saying how cool you are. Not that I could tell from today or anything. You're quieter than Hiei." Kuronue imagined if he'd met Hiei, who he heard enough about to be jealous, that might make sense, but as he didn't really know Hiei he didn't have a reference point.

"So wait, you brought me here because Kurama asked you to?" Kuronue asked, finally catching up to that piece of information.

"Yeah, isn't that what I said?" Kuwabara asked.

"You didn't come here for a date?" Kuronue asked.

"A date, with who?" Kuwabara asked.

"With me."

"EEW! No!" Kuwabara asked, jumping up and doing a weird dance that involved a lot of shivering and motions like he was trying to wipe and wash stuff off. Kuronue started to laugh, mostly because he could completely have imagined himself doing the same thing earlier in the day if he hadn't had the common sense to not want to stand out _that_ much.

When Kuwabara finally stopped dancing and Kuronue finally stopped laughing Kuronue asked his question. "So, you're not attracted to men?" Kuronue asked.

"NO! I have a girl, the best girl ever!" Kuwabara said in such a way that Kuronue got the idea if didn't stop him Kuwabara would start gushing about this girl.

"But you kept looking at me funny," Kuronue said.

"Well wouldn't you?" Kuwabara asked.

"Is that a crack about my ears?" Kuronue asked. There wasn't anything he or Kurama could to cover them and he'd been getting weird looks because of them all day.

"No, man, the last time someone came up who was looking like you Kurama nearly got killed. Kurama trusts you, but he was also ready to believe the other guy was you too," Kuwabara said.

Maybe he wasn't the clearest, but Kuronue got his point. Kuwabara normally would trust Kurama's judgment, but 'Kuronue' was an issue that made Kurama lose his head more than a little. For anyone else Kurama would have just killed them for sneaking in like that. Only that he'd looked like how he did made Kurama stay his hand long enough to figure out that he wasn't pretending to be Kuronue. He was Kuronue.

"Yeah," Kuronue said thoughtfully. "I'd do the say in your place," he said. "Kurama's important."

"Damn straight," Kuwabara said. "We'd seen him near die more than once, and he'd do just about anything to help the rest of us, and it goes both ways. Kurama's good, but he's not perfect. That's what he'd got us there for, to protect him from what he can't see," Kuwabara said.

Kuronue stared at Kuwabara with his mouth open. Really he thought of Kuwabara as an idiot, no matter that both her and Kurama were in the same school (and an apparently really prestigious school at that) he though Kuwabara was a moron. And then he turned around and said something that was so loyal and so… not stupid that Kuronue couldn't believe it.

"What?" Kuwabara asked, getting annoyed by the stare.

"Nothing," Kuronue said, shaking his head. "So, what about all the cat toys?" he asked, motioning the giant-cat-mascot Kuwabara won before.

"For my girl," Kuwabara said with his big oafish grin.

"And the key chain, and the picture?" Kuronue asked, having a hard time believing those were also for Kuwabara's 'girl'.

"What, a guy can't like cats in this world?" Kuwabara asked with such earnest disbelief that Kuronue had to laugh. Okay, so maybe he made mistake.

"Yeah, I suppose a guy can." Kuronue said with a smile.

"So," Kuwabara said.

"So?" Kuronue asked.

"So, we still got half an hour up here, what do you want to talk about?"

"Hmmmm," Kuronue said, screwing up his face comically like he was considering what they should talk about. "Want to trade embarrassing Kurama stories?"

"Yes," Kuwabara asked. One way or another Kurama would live to regret sending them on this little 'play date'.

* * *

A/N: So, what do y'all think? Yes, Kuronue can be a homophobe, but only against ugly guys. Kuronue thinks it's wrong for guys who are ugly to look at him. If an ugly girl was attracted to him he'd think that was par for the course, but ugly guys creep him out.

Also, I think that Kuwabara, if he were real, would probably be my ideal guy. I don't think he's as ugly as most people think. I mean he's not bad as long as he's not standing next to Kurama. He's funny, his loyal, and in the end he's at a prestigious school because he worked his ass off to get there. Kuwabara is strong, loyal, courageous, awesome, and we even have the same taste in music (given that Megallica is Metallica).

Anyway, this is dedicated to two people on DA brm6 and Yon-Kitty.


	3. Chapter 3

Kuronue wasn't at the death bed for Shuuichi Minamino, though his wife, and his sons, and his brother were. Kuronue didn't bother. He knew Shuuichi Minamino would die shortly after his mother, he just hadn't expected it to take so many years. His death happened two weeks after the last human who knew him as Kurama died.

Even Kuronue felt the weight of Kuwabara's death. He was the only full human in the group. Even Keiko had been turned demon so that Yusuke wouldn't have to live without her. But Kuwabara would not sacrifice his human nature. He left behind a full demon wife and a set of half-blood twins.

Kuronue attended Kazuma Kuwabara's funeral with Kurama, as the son of "Shuuichi's" long dead friend. He'd only known the human for about 70 years, but Kuronue felt a terrible sadness for the loss. But time turned on and eventually everything died. Even him. Even Kurama. Even, one day, the human boys that Kurama left behind.

In all honestly Kuronue had been surprised when Kurama's human body stayed alive even after the shock of his mother's death. She didn't live long after her second husband, after all. Kuronue was sure that "Shuuichi Minamino" would not outlive his mother very long. But when she did die Kurama had two sons in middle school. Now they were adults, married with children of their own. One thing that Kuronue had been surprised at was just how much Kurama stuck to the idea of family. Really, he held on until the last of his human family no longer needed him. His wife would survive, and she had just been someone Kurama married to make his mother happy anyway. The boys were adults. Kuwabara had been the last, and then he died and so did his dear friend "Shuuichi Minamino".

It was a chilly January morning, a Sunday, the day the funeral for Shuuichi Minamino. Kuronue attended, again as the son of a dead friend. He was the only one of Kurama's group of friends to come. Yusuke and Hiei would have been to busy with their own families. Not that it mattered, but somehow it pissed Kuronue off a lot. They claimed to be some of Kurama's closest friends and yet they didn't even bother to show up for his funeral? It didn't matter, Kuronue kept telling himself that, but truthfully it really bothered him. The whole thing bothered him.

He hadn't been comfortable at Kuwabara's funeral, but he'd chalked that up to just not knowing how to mourn for a human, even though Kuwabara was a human he'd really, really liked. For a demon in some ways they would begin mourning the death of any human as soon as they met that human. The old great king Raizen had died for that love, and it had taken hundreds of years. Kuronue didn't love Kuwabara, not like how he loved Kurama. There simply wasn't enough time to form the same depth of friendship. What stung was that Kuronue knew he could have formed the same depth of friendship with Kuwabara… if he had lived long enough.

Kuronue hated Kuwabara's funeral, but it was nothing compared to how he hated Kurama's funeral. It reminded him all over of the hopelessness he felt when he'd heard Kurama died. He'd been trapped in that hellhole prison. The assassin, the one who'd tortured him until he'd given away all the information on his closest friend's hideouts; she was the one to tell him. She'd been so cold, so bitter, and so sad, like a hunter who had killed their greatest prey. The hunt was over, and she'd gloated, but even she was sad for the loss of the hunt.

He remembered how she looked, everything about her, because he broke that day. The one thing that had kept him going until then was knowing that the distraction he'd made had kept his friend alive, and that he might escape someday and rejoin his partner in crime. Kuronue was in no way self sacrificing, but when you're in hell you will hold onto anything to keep your sanity and your sense of who you are. Kuronue's identity had been so tied with Youko Kurama that hearing about his death would have killed the bird demon.

But it didn't kill him, because demons die slow, and because sixteen years later Kuronue got word that Youko Kurama had appeared in the form of a human boy. The drive to make right what he'd done drove his escape, and his survival. It still drove him, although he knew he'd never be able to make up for what he'd done, no matter what Kurama said.

That was why he attended the funeral, the sparsely attended funeral. It was just the surviving family, and a few people from Shuuichi's work. Suuichi became company president at Shuuichi's insistence. It was because Kurama hadn't planned to live long past his mother died, and he hadn't expected her to outlive her second husband. None of them really expected her to live as long as she did. Kuronue had gone to her funeral too. Kurama had needed the support. All of Kurama's friends came for support. Kuronue had hated that funeral too.

He wasn't sure what it was about human funerals that he hated, but he was starting to think it was the impersonality of it all. All funerals were the same. There was a wake, the body was displayed and friends, coworkers, acquaintances, extended family gave condolences to the immediate family. People brought flowers, offered food, brought incense. Then came the actual funeral, after the body was cremated. There was a service, and the part at the grave side. People cried, said their empty goodbyes, and consoled themselves with idea like the dead were in a better place, or something.

Kuronue had come to the idea that funerals weren't for the dead, not anymore, not in the human world. Funerals were for the living, something humans did to make themselves believe that they could actually do something for the dead, or something to make up for things they hadn't done for the deceased while they were still living. Then the humans would go home, cry a little, feel lonely, and feel better. Maybe Kuronue wouldn't have minded if funerals weren't so clinical, if seeing Kurama's human body in that box hadn't been exactly like seeing his mother's, or Kuwabara's.

When the funeral was over Kuronue left, feeling disgusted, his fist wrapped around his wing pendant until his knuckles turned white and his palm bled. It was a gift, the first gift Kurama gave him after they found each other again. In some ways it was as important to him as the pendant Kurama had given him. While in the human world it was more important because it allowed him to move and travel as a human. It was why he could go back to his apartment once the funeral was over. It was why he could go to the funeral. It was also why he finished packing up the last of things and donated almost all of it.

The pendant was a temporary fix. It didn't make him human. It didn't make him love humanity. It allowed him to blend in. Once he took it off he'd go back to normal and he'd return to the demon world as a normal demon. What did he need with human things that wouldn't work in the demon world? He gave away everything, changed into clothes more suitable for the human world, and jumped out of his window into the dark night, flying high into the sky in order to avoid being spotted in the lights of the city.

He took in the sights of the human world, doing a crazy improbable spin that would piss Kurama off if he could have seen it. Damn, he was going to miss this world, the sky, the trees… but it was time to go home. He had nothing waiting for him anymore. This was a vacation from real life, for the demon inside him, from the truth of what he was. He pulled his wings tight to him, going into a dive before spreading his wings out, allowing for a graceful landing.

"Still quiet the show off."

"Like you aren't worse," Kuronue said with a smirk at the voice coming from the shadows.

"Yes, but I'm smart enough not to show off in the human world where people can see," Youko Kurama said, stepping away from the tree he'd been lounging in. "So, how was my funeral?"

"Like all the rest… though less visitors than the others… I was surprised," Kuronue admitted.

"I don't see why. My mother had a lot of women friends in the neighborhood, women who brought their families. There were also her coworkers and many other people who worked for my father's company. Kuwabara had his students, as well as all the human and demon friends he'd made in his life time. As far as a know Shuuichi Minamino had no life outside for work and family. Who would come to his funeral?" the fox asked, his ears twitching light in irritation.

"Your other friends didn't show up," Kuronue said.

"We knew they wouldn't. They took off to Kuwabara's funeral because they wouldn't see him again. They knew they'd see me again soon," Kurama reminded.

"But still, it's your funeral and they didn't show up," Kuronue snapped. He was really pissed about it. Yes, he knew that while Shuuichi Minamino was dead that Kurama wasn't dead, and he knew that therefore none of the demons had any real reason to come, but that didn't change the fact that they didn't send flowers, or condolences, or anything. What if Kurama hadn't come back? The human body was weaker than it had been when he was younger. What if he'd just died, what if he hadn't been able to escape? They didn't even check.

"Don't worry old friend," Kurama said with a smirk, his ears twitching even more, and his white tail flicking from side to side. "They will pay for their transgression very soon."

Kuronue smirked, relaxing. Yes, this was the Kurama he knew. The planner, the cold, calculating bastard he knew and loved. And this time he wasn't simply housed in a human form. He was there. He was living. He was breathing. And he was shivering because it was the dead of winter and he had on a far too light tunic. "Ready to go home?"

"Ready for you to open the damn portal," Kurama snarled, his tail and ears flicking with greater irritation and a greater want to be warm. "And I swear, if you've made a portal where we end up in snow country I'm going to lynch you with your own intestines."

Kuronue couldn't even laugh, only because he knew that Kurama would do exactly that; but he did smile. "Nah, you just died three days ago. It's a little too soon to be making jokes at your expense," he said, setting up the portal so they could return to Makai.

"About how long will that last?" Kurama asked sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest and shivering a little bit.

"About as long as it takes us to get home," Kuronue said with a winning smile, stepping through the open portal to a warm, deciduous forest.

"Oh joy," Kuronue heard Kurama say from the human world behind him, before he followed his best friend and partner in crime into the demon world.

"So what do you say" Kuronue asked as the portal closed. He opened his arms like he was a show girl on one of those game shows that stood next to prizes. "Any first words for your return home?"

"Yes," Kurama said very thoughtfully before smirking so wickedly that Kuronue's mouth twitched into a copycat smirk. "The legend of Youko Kurama begins again," he said. He stood so tall, so proud, looking every bit as impressive as the first time Kuronue saw him. "And one more thing… Catch me if you can," Kurama said.

It took Kuronue too long to figure out what that meant, and by the time he did not only and Kurama stuck his tongue out at him, but he had taken off running. Kuronue laughed, letting out a loud whoop before jumping skyward. He flew after the fox, unable to keep up with him on land, though he might be able to catch him if he had the air. In some ways it was like they'd never left Makai in the first place.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think?

I was a little surprised by how it turned out. Turns out these stories were more about Kuronue than I thought they would be.

As for the bit about funerals, I have attended more funerals in my childhood than five average Americans will in their entire lives combined. My parents are both ordained clergy, and when I was between ages 3-7 they each separately preformed more funerals than most pastors will perform in their lifetime. My first playground was a cemetery. Needless to say that my relationship to death is a bit warped. That being said I think the funeral is a very personal thing, that the impersonality of it is necessary for healing. They are all alike, but for a reason: people when they are grieving need some kind of routine, even if it's someone else's routine. And yes, the funeral is for the living, not the dead. It's to help the living let go and I think it's a very integral part of the healing process.

Anyway, what'd you think? Different from the last one, I imagine?

Again, this is dedicated to two people on DA: to brm6, who created the original image that go me started on this story, and allowed me to create my own version of Kurama, and to Yon-Kitty, who's images gave me the inspiration to get these last two chapters out.

This is also dedicated to my readers. I love all of you, and will love you even more if you draw fanart of my story (just kidding… maybe…)

Peace out!


End file.
